Well, hidden in all these pop-troves is one of the best ‘debut’ LPs ever. Okay, ‘1st’ is not strictly a debut, but it certainly marks the start of the Bee Gee’s serious pop career, as opposed to novelty boogie woogie.

For fans a bubblegum psychedelia, like, ‘Days of Pearly Spencer’ or Nirvana, this album is an absolutely essential purchase.

For the opening gallop of ‘Turn of the Century’, complete with (what feels like) 40-part harmonies, and Bach-styled trumpet lines (akin to the solo of Penny Lane), to the incredible phased psychedelia of ‘Red Chair Fade Away’, ‘1st’ is a lesson in mid sixties pop music.

The LP also contains the million seller, ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’ (you know it, it goes ‘…Have you seeeeen my wife Mr Jones…’) which again is a classic pop song with a misty eyed fog.

What is striking about the LP is the darkness which underpins the whole thing. The Bee Gee’s trademark in later years was their smiles and goofy good time reverie. ‘1st’ sees the band taking an eschewed trip through victoriana and strung out tales of house hold objects.

It’s fantastically catchy, brilliant… but with hidden depths and sorrow. What more do you want from an album. Just don’t be a snob and turn away from it because it’s the Bee Gee’s. I promise it will screw your head on differently. Oh, and Klaus Voorman drew the LP sleeve. It’s a winner…

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Well, hidden in all these pop-troves is one of the best ‘debut’ LPs ever. Okay, ‘1st’ is not strictly a debut, but it certainly marks the start of the Bee Gee’s serious pop career, as opposed to novelty boogie woogie.

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This entry was posted on May 9, 2006 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Long-forgotten debuts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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